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why was the war not over by December 1914 - Coggle Diagram
why was the war not over by December 1914
allies
The Triple Alliance, The Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire (from November 1914), Bulgaria (from October 1915)
The Triple Entente, The Allies: Britain, France, Russia, United States (from Apri 1917)
causes of the first world war
militarism, many countries believed it was important to build large armies and navies
alliances, the alliance system turned a small dispute into a world war
imperialism, European nations were creating Empires and coming into conflict
nationalism, all countries looked out for their own intrests
how did the war start
28 June 1914 Gavrilo Princip assasinated Archduke Franz Ferdinan
14 July Germany promised unlimited support to Austria
23 July Austria gave Serbia an ultimatum demanding to be allowed to deal with the assasination
25 July Serbia, with Russian support, rejected almost all of the ultimatum. Austria mobilised against Serbia
30 July Russia mobilised against Germany and Austria
1 August Germany declared war on Russia
2 August Germany invaded Luxembourg an demanded free passage through Belgium
3 August Germany declared war on France and invaded Belgium. Since 1839, Belgium's neutrality had been guaranteed by Britain
4 August Britain declared war on Germany
6 August Austria declared war on Russia
12 August Britain and France both declared war on Austria
how important was Belgium's reaction to the Schlieffen plan
Belgians fought much harder than Germany expected. Germany invasion was slowed because of exhaustion, supply problems and casualties.
when Belgians resistance gave, Britain was able to enter the war and sent troops to help them, and France was able to mobilise and carry their Plan 17
the Schlieffen plan meant Belgium would be destroyed completely so Belgiums knew they had to resist
As Belgium was a neutral, Germany did not expect them to fight back.
Germans were slowed down by the Belgian army and did not reach Paris in the expected six weeks. It took 2 weeks to capture Brussels and the fortress town of Liège. This had a great effect as the plan relied on speed.
why did both sides introduce trenches
Germans were pushed back by allies after the Battle of Marne and eventually dug in to avoid losing any more ground
unable to break through this line of defence the allies began to dig trenches too
went from the English Channel to Switzerland
the race to the sea was when German's tried to capture British Channel ports and cut supplies from Britain
both sides wanted access to the French ports and advanced towards the coastline to stop the other side from gaining control of it.
at the first battle of Ypres 19 October-22 November 1914, allies aimed to retake Lille and Brussels and Germany the port of Dunkirk, Calais, Boulogne.
between the battle of Mons and Ypres meant BEF had lost numbers and now counted on volunteers and stalemate continues
how was the Schlieffen Plan intended to work
made by the German Chief of Staff, Count Alfred von Schlieffen in 1905
it was made because Germany was worried about fighting a war on two fronts, being encircled by France and Russia and having to fight them at the same time.
attacking France, travelling really quickly through Belgium and then after defeating them turn back to Russia and attack them
Schlieffen assumed Russia would take eight weeks to mobilize.
10% of the German army was kept to defend against Russia on the Eastern front.
90% of the army were to move through neutral Belgium and invade France, where they were to defeat the French army and encircle Paris in 6 weeks.
The plan started to go wrong when Russia mobilized in support of Serbia on 30th July.
Von Schlieffen dies and plan altered by new Chief of Staff (von Moltke) in 1906. Plan not implemented by the creator which led to misunderstandings. The German army was smaller than when the plan was made. This didn’t account for the changes and improvement in enemy machinery and tactics.
how successful was the British Expeditionary Force
the Schlieffen plan assumed that Britain would not protect Belgium, but when they asked Britain for help, they sent the BEF, the British Expeditionary Force immediately
the BEF fought the Germans at Mons on 23 August 1914 but were outnumbered and retreated into River Marne
the BEF, Belgium and France had slowed the German invasion, so the Schlieffen plan was now impossible and German forces were not strong enough to encircle Paris, instead, they went after BEF
at the Battle of Marne, 5-12 September 1914 Germans were defeated by BEF and France, they forced Germans into the river Aisne.
BEF led by Sir Jon French and the troops at Mons led by General Douglas Haig.